Category Archives: vintage photo

I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer. It’s been pretty hot here in Southern California for the past few months, and I’m definitely ready for cooler temperatures. I hope we have a cool fall and winter, and hope we get some much needed rain!

New Assemblage

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Today I’m sharing my most recent assemblage – a piece I’m calling Mystery. The main image is comprised of two different vintage photos – one photo of a little girl on her First Communion day, and another photo that I believe was taken by my grandfather on Guam in the 1940s. I’ve combined these images with decorative elements like three desert roses (gypsum), washi tape, metallic joss paper, rhinestones, and other decorative elements. Mystery is now available for sale in my Etsy shop – and speaking of my Etsy shop…

Assemblages on Sale in My Etsy Shop!*

For the first time ever I’m offering a sale on the assemblages in my Etsy shop! I currently have six assemblages available, and they’re all on sale at a significant savings. The pieces are usually $140 – $160, and they’re all on sale for $95. That’s a savings of $45 or more per piece! So if you’d like to add a one-of-a-kind piece of art to your collection, or want to start a collection, now’s the time! Hurry over to my Etsy shop, take a peek, and order your favorite today. :]

Today I’m pleased to share two new assemblages: Frontiers & Broken Foundation. They’re the newest additions to the series of assemblages I’ve been working on since late December, and they’re the fourth and fifth assemblages I’ve added to my Etsy shop.

Frontiers

I can’t recall where I found this black and white photo, but when I found it I knew I had to buy it. I’d never seen anything quite like it, and knew it would be a strong foundation for a piece of art. This lady from long ago is standing on her homestead, in the snow, looking off into the distance. Such a lovely image – one that I’ve enhanced with elements like a vintage mirror, butterfly, bullet shells, vintage ledger paper, vintage cloth tape measure, a button, and a mini saw blade.

Broken Foundation

This is another photo I just had to buy. This little girl has such personality – hands on hips in her cute dress. Her image has been paired with a ribbon bow, vintage buttons, broken china pieces, a blue lens, and gold photo frames with words/phrases in them. I also stamped on the photo with permanent black ink…

These assemblages are each priced at $140 and are available for purchase in my Etsy store. Please pop over and take a peek!

I’m reposting this project today – and this time I’m actually including the photos. ;] This super cool project turns old watches into photo keepsake jewelry. I’d like to say I dreamed up the idea for these amazing “photo watches”, but I didn’t. I saw a photo of them on Facebook and was instantly smitten. If you search online you’ll find other examples that are similar. It’s a simple idea – one that I love SO much. They’re easy to execute (except getting the back off the watch!), and make lovely and unique jewelry.

As you may know, I LOVE vintage photos. I collect them, have a drawer full of them, and use them in my artwork. I often use photos of strangers that I’ve purchased in my projects, but sometimes I use old family photos. My three samples make use of two cherished family photos, as well as one of the vintage photos I altered in my book – An Altered Existence.

Left: One of the characters from the story Cast from a Different Mold (in my book)
Center: My Grandma Neva in the 1920’s
Right: My Aunt Bobby as a little girl, in her swimming cap and bathing suit

I wear the watches featuring the photos of my aunt and grandma on a regular basis, and I often wear both at the same time. I sometimes pause during the day and look at their photos with love and gratitude. It makes me happy to have them close, particularly since they’ve both passed on…

Materials**

Old watches – they don’t have to run
Photos – either copies or (if you’re daring) originals
Diamond Glaze or Mod Podge (optional)
Scissors
Pencil
Something to pry or screw open the backs of the watches

Instructions**

1. Open the back of the watch. You may need to reference the web to figure out how to open a specific type of watch, as I did. Two of the watches opened by prying them open with a metal tool, and one screwed open.
2. Select photos that will fit in the window of your watch. Make copies if need be.
3. Lightly trace the back of the watch onto the photo with pencil and trim the photo to fit inside the watch.
4. Remove the watch “innards” so you can place the photo inside. You may need to trim the photo a bit more to get it to fit and line up properly.
5. Secure the photo inside the watch – either with Diamond Glaze or by putting the watch innards back in the watch behind the photo. If you opt to affix the photo to the inside of the clear face cover, use a thin swipe of Diamond Glaze to “glue” it to the plastic or glass. I did this with the two round-faced watches because the photos were color copies, and were thinner. For the gold watch with the rectangular face I simply put the photo in and then placed the watch innards behind it.
6. Close up the back of the watch, wear, and enjoy!

Giveaway!*

I love how these pieces turned out, and look forward to making more. For me the tricky part is finding watch bands that fit my (big-boned) wrist. I ordered a few lots of watches from eBay in order to make this project, and because some of the watches are just too small for me I’m offering some of the watches that didn’t work out for me in a giveaway. If you win one of the watches you can customize it your own way – whether you opt to use a color photo or something black and white, as I did.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post saying which watch you’d choose from the three I’m offering. Please include your first and second choices. I’ll choose names at random and will assign watches to folks until they’re all spoken for. The winners will be notified here on my blog a week from today, on March 26, 2014. Good luck!

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Welcome to my blog!

My name is Melody M. Nuñez - I’m an artist, a writer, and an art teacher. To learn more about me and the book I published - An Altered Existence: Fictitious Stories About Faces from the Past - please view the “About” & "Book" pages…